2019 WWE draft
The 2019 WWE draft is the ongoing fourteenth WWE draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and 205 Live brands. Simply called the draft and returning to a traditional format, it will be the second draft of 2019, following April's Superstar Shake-up. The draft is scheduled to occur on the October 11 and 14 episodes of Friday Night SmackDown (in Las Vegas, Nevada) and Monday Night Raw (in Denver, Colorado), respectively, with SmackDown airing on FOX and Raw airing on the USA Network. Production Background In April 2019, the WWE held the Superstar Shake-up, a draft between WWE's brands with an un-traditional format in which drafting decisions were made behind the scenes. Shortly after the Shake-up, WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon introduced a Wild Card Rule, in which up to four wrestlers would be allowed to appear on the opposing brand's show by invitation for one night only with unsanctioned appearances penalized. Following this, however, the Wild Card Rule's stipulations were not enforced, with numerous wrestlers freely appearing on both shows weekly without any penalties, blurring the lines between the Raw and SmackDown brands. With SmackDown's move to FOX in October and Raw remaining on the USA Network (part of Comcast's NBCUniversal), the WWE decided to hold a second draft for 2019, simply called the draft, to definitively split the two brands. The draft was announced to occur on the October 11 and 14 episodes of SmackDown and Raw, respectively. Returning to a traditional draft format, personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal are scheduled to appear to make the drafting decisions. It was also confirmed that the Wild Card Rule would end with this new draft. Several celebrities were confirmed to appear during the draft, including fourteen-time Major League Baseball All-Star and FOX analyst Alex Rodriguez, Saturday Night Live's Michael Che and Colin Jost (who performed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 35 earlier this year), Mr. Robot's Christian Slater, NFL on FOX's Joe Buck, Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, Mad Money host Jim Cramer, FOX MLB analysts Kevin Burkhardt and Frank Thomas, FOX NFL Sunday's Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson, and Tony Gonzalez, FOX NFL analysts Ronde Barber, Charles Davis, Chris Spielman, and Daryl Johnston, FOX NFL Kickoff's Charissa Thompson, Michael Vick, and Peter Schrager, Big Noon Kickoff's Rob Stone, Brady Quinn, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, and Urban Meyer, Fox College Football analyst Joel Klatt, Dulé Hill from USA's Psych and Suits, James Roday from Psych, Marcus Lemonis from The Profit, Margaret Josephs and Melissa Gorga from The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Rodney Harrison and Chris Simms from Football Night in America, and Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Mustoe, and Kyle Martino from Premier League Live. Selection Raw * Becky Lynch * The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) * Drew McIntyre * Randy Orton (moved from SmackDown) * Ricochet * Bobby Lashley * Kevin Owens (moved from SmackDown) * Natalya * The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) * The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) (moved from NXT) * Seth Rollins * Charlotte Flair (moved from SmackDown) * Andrade (moved from SmackDown) * Zelina Vega (moved from SmackDown) * Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) (moved from SmackDown) * Rusev (moved from SmackDown) * Aleister Black (moved from SmackDown) * Cedric Alexander * Humberto Carrillo (moved from 205 Live) * Erick Rowan (moved from SmackDown) * Buddy Murphy (moved from SmackDown) * Jinder Mahal (moved from SmackDown) * R-Truth (moved from SmackDown) * Samoa Joe * Akira Tozawa * Shelton Benjamin (moved from SmackDown) * Rey Mysterio * Titus O'Neil * Liv Morgan Additional * EC3 * Eric Young * Sin Cara (moved from SmackDown) * Billie Kay and Peyton Royce (moved from SmackDown) * Mojo Rawley * Sarah Logan * No Way Jose * Curt Hawkins * Zack Ryder * Lana (moved from SmackDown) * AOP (Akam and Rezar) SmackDown * Roman Reigns * "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt (moved from Raw) * Sasha Banks (moved from Raw) * Braun Strowman (moved from Raw) * Lacey Evans (moved from Raw) * The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) (moved from Raw) * Lucha House Party (Kalisto, Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) (moved from Raw) * Brock Lesnar * The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) * Daniel Bryan * Bayley * Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn (Zayn from Raw) * Ali * Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode (moved from Raw) * Carmella * The Miz (moved from Raw) * King Corbin (moved from Raw) * Shorty Gable * Elias Additional * Apollo Crews * Drew Gulak (moved from 205 Live) * Heath Slater (moved from Raw) * Tamina (moved from Raw) * The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) * Alexa Bliss (moved from Raw) * Nikki Cross (moved from Raw) * Dana Brooke (moved from Raw) * Cesaro (moved from Raw) * Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville * Drake Maverick (working on both brands) * Luke Harper Alumni * Alicia Fox (announced that she has moved to alumni section until her contact was expired)